This blog post contains many more photos that I snapped with my phone, so you can feast your eyes on all the makeup goodies.

The displays show a sprinkling of older and newer products from editorial lip colours to strobing kits.

Thanks to PR, not only did I have a great time checking out the latest Hard Candy products, but I was excited to receive a swag bag from them that was filled with makeup!

Before I get into the Hard Candy products, I want to give a special shoutout to Tami (@tamielsombati on Instagram), a makeup artist who I met at the event. She’s the gorgeous woman standing next to me in the above photo. (She shows lots of her work on her Instagram.)

Tami was extremely sweet and helpful, answering my questions and giving me loads of valuable tips and tricks. I always find it refreshing when I meet talented people who are still down-to-earth and nice. (She even complimented me on my skin and my makeup, which made me feel on top of the world!)

Hard Candy is available exclusively at Walmart, and if you want to read up on more specific information on each item, check out the Hard Candy website.

Thank you to everyone for participating. More fun giveaways are coming!

Hallowe’en, my favourite holiday, is tomorrow, so I’m giving my awesome Canadian readers a chance to win something fun. No tricks and all treats!

(Stay tuned later for future giveaways that will be open worldwide. You are appreciated and not forgotten, my international readers! This time, I’m keeping it local.)

I reached out to Hard Candy’s PR, and we teamed up to give you a prize that, to me, is better than chocolate or any candies (even though, yes, I have a sweet tooth – no denying that)!

Up for grabs is this cute set that houses 12 mini Hard Candy nail polishes in a wide range of finishes and colours.

Aside from giving you so many shades to choose from, what makes this particularly exciting is that there are perforated flaps covering each bottle.

You can open one flap each day to treat yourself to a little reward, or you can throw the “rules” away and rip open all the flaps in one sitting. It’s up to you!

And although it’s set up like an advent calendar, that’s not to say that you can’t enjoy this nail-polish set, even if you don’t celebrate Christmas. If you ‘celebrate’ nail polish and the joy it brings, that’s all the enthusiasm you need! 😉

Edit: This cute 12 Days of Nail set is part of Hard Candy’s new Holiday Collection that’s available exclusively at Walmart stores and on the Walmart Canada website starting the beginning of November 2015.

Read all the salient details carefully in this blog post to ensure that your entry is valid.

Thank you to all my readers, whether you’ve been visiting for years or you found me just a few minutes ago. You are all welcome at Swatch And Learn!

I spy with my Hallowe’en bloodshot eyes an easy nail design that you can finish in a jiffy!

This is a nail look that requires only basic colours (white, black, and red) that you already have in your stash. Then, you can choose whichever shade you want for the iris.

The red I used was Hard Candy Remix Red. All the other colours are by Pretty Serious Cosmetics: Presence (white), Absence (black), and Nuke the Fridge (shimmery olive).

Considering what my favourite colour is, it should come as no surprise that I chose green for the irises. 😉

To create the veins, feel free to add ‘branches’ to make them look more believable. I, however, kept it simple with lots of squiggles.

As long as you’re happy wearing the design, that’s what matters. You can create them however you want. There aren’t any hard-or-fast rules. Nail art should be fun and not cause anxiety. Don’t concern yourself with perfection. Nail polish is all about enjoyment! 🙂

It had a cobalt blue satin corset and princess-seamed skirt. Beneath it was a petticoat with several mesh layers to help puff out the bottom. Then, on top were a couple of layers of purple tulle that, from various angles, made my dress shift like a duochrome from purple to blue.

This was my fairytale dress, as only the night before shopping, I had done a quick sketch of what I planned to look for. Then, hung on a rack near the ceiling of an evening gown store (the first boutique I went to, which was also on my birthday), I looked up and saw the dress I drew right before my eyes. It was meant to be. *Cue the song “So This Is Love” from Cinderella*

Since then, a lot of time has passed. For instance, dinosaurs no longer roam the earth. Also, wheels have gone from being square to becoming round. 😉

Despite the passage of time, I still feel nostalgic whenever I see the colourful combination like the magic contained inside Hard Candy Wild Child. It’s my prom dress in a bottle!

Like a crackling fireplace that creates an inviting ambience, Hard Candy Crush on Lava adds warmth to your manicure with a burst of multichrome. It mainly shifts from an orange-leaning gold to maroon, but at times, I spied a little green along the edges at certain angles.

Hard Candy Crush on Lava strikes a chord that’s in harmony with the autumnal spirit that goes hand-in-hand with the leaves changing colours.

If you’re looking for a nail polish to ignite your inner nailphile and make you long for those cool, crisp fall days, Hard Candy Crush on Lava does just the trick to fill that desire and wrap it up in a cozy blanket.

P.S. If you’re also addicted to Candy Crush like me, when you first read the name Hard Candy Crush on Lava, you probably noticed ‘Candy Crush’ first. 😉

If Hard Candy Sky means anything to you (and it should, if you’re a nailphile), you’ll be in the same corner as me, jumping up and down, squealing with joy!

I came home from work the other day to this wonderful surprise: Hard Candy Sky Nail Polish & 20th Anniversary Goodies!

Yes, that’s right – Hard Candy is celebrating their 20th anniversary this month. (Edit: These items will be available in May.) The spring-themed box immediately brought a huge smile to my face. I remember the 1990s very well. I read Seventeen and YM magazines, soaking up every fashion pictorial, reading each advice column, learning beauty tips, and drooling over the cute guy of the moment.

Hard Candy Sky is a light-blue nail polish that was advertised in many of the magazines I pored over with friends, and its iconic shade brings back so many memories of when I was coming of age.

No, I never had the original Hard Candy Sky nail polish. Money was tighter than shrunken hipster pants when I was growing up. (I rarely had the fashion or makeup that was trendy or ‘cool’, but that didn’t stop me from being happy and appreciating what I did have.)

It really meant so much to me that Hard Candy surprised me with this special 20th anniversary box! 🙂

Also, in case you haven’t heard, Hard Candy is relaunching Sky (the nail polish that started it all) and other classics. Avid makeup and nail junkies, take note! (They’ll be available at Wal-Mart stores.)

In this post, I share with you some quick photos of Hard Candy Sky, the Top Ten Eyeshadow Collection, and a cute USB key. (How did they know that I needed a new USB key? Hehe, and it’s shaped like a Hard Candy nail-polish bottle, which is even better!)